Thousands of distributors flocked to The PPAI Expo Grand Opening Celebration at 8 am in the Product Pavilion on Tuesday morning, and in addition to getting first looks at products in the four Product Pavilions and the brand. Pavilion, 32 lucky winners won door prizes donated by suppliers and PPAI, including two round-trip tickets on American Airlines.
The Grand Opening was designed to introduce show attendees to the new show halls and single-level trade show floor space being unveiled at The PPAI Expo this week in Las Vegas.
As attendees made their way along the product pavilion tables and then through brand., drawings for prize items were being announced every few minutes. John Oda, account executive at Onyx, was thrilled to win a Weber grill. “I’m really excited. That’s a phenomenal way to start the show,” he says.
Joe Chavarria, owner of New Generation Graphics, enjoyed the Grand Opening even though he didn’t win a prize. “I’m here to see what we can offer our customers in terms of new products. We walk through here and it’s kind of amazing to see how many new products there are. For me it’s exciting,” he says.
For some distributors, getting on the floor early was a good way to get the creative juices flowing. “If you stand back and look at everything as a whole, you get better ideas. I look for items that I can combine with screenprinting,” says Rich Ringer, president of Boardwalk Promotions. He pointed to a reversible sweatshirt in the New Product Pavilion. “This is a perfect example.”
And The Grand Opening prize winners are…
Brad Shuman
Brian Beam
Brian Klayman
Chris Matsumoto
Chris Stumpf
Cindy Gardner
David Laviguer
David Skolsky
Gayle DeBord
Gordon Ballard
Ian Miller
Janna Mundis
Jean Sillman
Jerry Hare
Jody Ferrer
John Oda
Johnathan Vasquez
Joyce Sato
Kathy Adameak
Masayuki Sato
Matt Gonzales
Melanie Richards
Nick Cooper
Paul Herzbrun
Pete Aklestad
Randy Gallant
Sarah McTaggert
Sherry Cousins
Sunny Fedorick
Walter Kurt
Wayne Grothmann
Yvonne Leung
Winners who have not yet received their certificate should go to the PPAI booth (Booth # 2451) on the show floor and take the certificate to the booth number listed on it to claim their prize.
